The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2016 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on November 3, 2016, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

This chronicle of the
influential black Chicago newspaper simultaneously tracks the important issues
pertaining to African-American history from the turn of the 19th century.

A copy editor and
investigative reporter at the Defender from 1991 to 1996,
journalist Michaeli tackles an enormous swath of American history in his
thorough, painstaking account of the newspaper’s rise to prominence. The story
begins with the Georgia-born Robert Abbott, who had been so impressed by the
accomplishments of the black professionals he met while visiting Chicago’s
World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 with his singing group, the Hampton
Quartet, that he stayed in the city to attend law school. He was resolved that
the city needed an African-American newspaper that would “ ‘wake them up,’
expose the atrocities of the southern system, and make demands for justice.” With
scant resources, depending on subscriptions from the South Side black
community, and using his landlady’s dining room as a newsroom, Abbott launched
his first issue of the “defender of his race” in May 1905, with a print run of
300. Subsequently, Abbott led the newspaper to prominence over four decades,
becoming the mouthpiece for the seminal race issues of the day: exposing the
spate of lynchings in the South; advocating for the integration of sports
teams; covering race riots; agitating for the huge migration of blacks to find
industrial jobs in the North, known as the Great Northern Drive; and supporting
the troops in a “Jim Crow army” while carefully avoiding undermining the war
effort. As the Defender’s mantle of leadership was assumed by
Abbott’s nephew John Sengstacke in 1940, the paper took on the role of
galvanizing the black electorate, which would become key in the presidential
elections of Harry Truman (1948) and John F. Kennedy (1960), the Chicago
mayoral upset by Harold Washington in 1983, and Barack Obama’s astonishing
homegrown surge in 2003. Michaeli has obviously put a considerable amount of
care into the research and crafting of this important history.

Be the first to discover new talent!
Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our Pro Connect email alert.
Sign up here to receive your FREE alerts.